Mark S. Sparschu

Mark is a Principal Attorney at Quinn IP Law, where he brings his breadth and depth of intellectual property experience to bear in helping his clients use IP as a valuable asset in their businesses. His in-house legal experience includes work at both domestic and foreign companies, for both suppliers and customers, and across all intellectual property subject matter. He understands the expectations placed on in-house legal departments and is uniquely positioned to help them meet and exceed those expectations.

Mark was most recently Vice President and Chief IP Counsel for Lear Corporation, a multinational automotive electrical, electronics, and seating supplier, where Mark and his team were responsible for all of Lear’s global intellectual property matters. He has also served as Chief Patent and Trademark Counsel at Volvo Car Corporation, practicing at Volvo’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden. Additionally, Mark was Chief Trademark Counsel for Ford Motor Company, where Mark and his team were responsible for all of Ford’s trademark legal matters and considerable trademark portfolio on a global basis. Mark was also a Patent Counsel at Ford, where he provided a full range of patent legal services, including preparation and prosecution of patent applications; noninfringement, invalidity, and freedom-to-practice investigations and opinions; agreements; enforcement; and litigation support.  Mark also has previous outside counsel experience as a shareholder and practice group leader at a Detroit-area intellectual property firm. Prior to practicing law, Mark had a successful tenure as a Senior Electrical Engineer at General Motors Corporation, where he had design release responsibility for body and chassis electronics and advanced engineering responsibility in areas as diverse as automotive navigation, cellular communications, antennas, and anti-lock brakes.

Mark has substantial experience in patent, trademark, brand protection, copyright, IP due diligence, and IP transactional matters.  He has successfully managed the IP aspects of a multitude of license, merger/acquisition, joint development, joint venture, and nondisclosure agreements.  He has cleared, registered, and managed portfolios containing hundreds of trademarks, domestic and foreign.  Additionally, he has experience in the preparation and prosecution of domestic and foreign patent applications; patent portfolio management; and invalidity, non-infringement, and freedom to operate opinions.

Awards & Recognitions

“Top Corporate Counsel in Michigan”, DBusiness Magazine, 2021

Publications & Presentations

Panelist, “IP Auto USA,” a program presented by Intellectual Asset Management magazine, Detroit, Michigan, May 2018

“PTAB/IPR Strategies 2017,” presentation at the spring seminar of the State Bar of Michigan, IP Law Section, March 2017

“Trademark Enforcement Strategies to Protect Brands in an Ever-Challenging Environment,” presentation at the spring seminar of the State Bar of Michigan, IP Law Section, March 2013

Chapter author, “New Trademark and Copyright Protection Issues Impacting IP Attorneys and Brand Holder Clients” for the Inside the Minds book, Intellectual Property Law 2012:  Top Lawyers on Trends and Key Strategies for the Upcoming Year

“From Here to Eternity,” paper and presentation on the protection of heritage trademarks, at the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, May 2006

“Autos: Driven by Design,” presentation at the INTA Trade Dress Forum, New York, New York, October 2004

Presentation on the trademark holding company solution to divided ownership of the VOLVO trademark, at the INTA Advanced Trademark Seminar, Charleston, South Carolina, February 2004

“Design Strategies in the Car Industry,” presentation at the Swedish Anti-Counterfeiting Group’s seminar Borrowed, Stolen or Inspiration?  Industrial Design Now and in the Future, Stockholm, Sweden, April 2003